The Utah Investigative Journalism Project is very excited to announce we’ve been accepted into NewsMatch 2020! Between Nov. 1-Dec 31 all donations will be matched up to $5,000 per individual. New monthly donors, or folks who increase an existing monthly donation will have that donation matched 12x Donate now by clicking HERE. This is an...
Author: Eric Peterson (Eric Peterson)
Dirty dialing in the contest for Utah governor and other election races
The following story was written by Eric S. Peterson of The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. For someone being cold-called by a stranger for a “scientific survey,” the man was glad to talk about the upcoming election. He thoughtfully weighed his responses about his pick for governor in the...
Should SLC police have power to veto recording initial reports after shooting someone?
The following story was written and researched by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Deseret News. SALT LAKE CITY — Put yourself in the place of a police officer. You’re responding to a report of a person with a weapon, tensions are high, and as you move in to help you see...
A second look at Burgess Owens’ Second Chance 4 Youth nonprofit
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah congressional candidate Burgess Owens’ campaign is built largely on the foundation of his personal narrative: The descendant of a slave, he found fame and fortune as a professional football player only to later fall victim to...
By the book: How Utah police manuals can give law enforcement the upper hand in use-of-force investigations
The following story was written and researched by Eric S. Peterson and Ria Agarwal of The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with the Deseret News. SALT LAKE CITY — On TV there seems to be two kinds of cops — the rogue cop who plays by his own rules and the “by the book”...
Utah Investigative Journalism Project Claims Special Prize in State Contest
The Utah Investigative Journalism Project took home top honors in the Utah Headliners Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists statewide competition. We won the special Roy B. Gibson Freedom of Information Award for our report on a previously undisclosed $350,000 loan and plane tickets given to Greg Hughes by influential developer Terry Diehl even...
Join us for a virtual reading of “Citizen Reporters” co-hosted with King’s English
Join us for a virtual reading and meet author Stephanie Gorton in conversation with former LA Times national/foreign correspondent and UIJP board member Rone Tempest. The virtual event hosted by King’s English Bookshop will be Thursday July 9, at 6 p.m. and you can sign up here. The book is a stirring tale of the...
President’s program to bring business to poor communities skips over west side SLC neighborhoods
The following story was written by Eric Peterson of The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with the West View Media. There’s an old gambler’s expression that “Scared money don’t make no money.” Translation: you can’t win, if you don’t play. In 2017 President Trump created the “opportunity zone” program meant to encourage wealthy...
Utah Investigative Journalism Project Wins Top Honors in Regional Contest
The Utah Investigative Journalism Project took home top honors in the Society of Professional Journalists “Top of the Rockies” regional contest, competing against media outlets in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah. We took First Place in the “Investigative/Enterprise Reporting” category for our expose on the student-teacher aide who had been sexually abusing underage deaf...
The Essential Facts: An expert reveals the slippery science behind essential oils
The following was written by Eric Peterson of The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Utah Stories. A recent Utah Stories article quoted from a public health expert with both expertise in essential oils and epidemiology to unpack some of the murky science around the health benefits of essential oil products. Below is a...









